STROUD, a town of the hundred of Shamwell, in the lathe of Aylesford and county of Kent, twenty-nine miles from London. It stands on the river Medway, over which is a bridge connecting it with Rochester, so as in appearance to make it merely a suburb to that city. It consists of a single long street. The church is a fine old building, which formerly belonged to the Knights Templars, who had a palace near this town. The ruins of it are still visible on the banks of the river. The inhabitants amounted in 1801 to 1172, in 1811 to 1394, in 1821 to 1461, and in 1831 to 1549.